Comment: Simply Brit: We have dispatched from our UK warehouse books of good condition to over 1 million satisfied customers worldwide. We are committed to providing you with a reliable and efficient service at all times.

The city of William Blake and Jack the Ripper; the Bow Street Runners and The Krays; Bedlam and Newgate; the Pistols and the Clash ? London is the ancient capital of crime. London Noir is an A-Z of what lies beneath the official city maps. It takes you on a tour from the mythic East End, where modern day gangsters hide behind a political front; to the bohemian West, where priests pray and police prey on their flocks. In the North unearthly sacrifices are taking place to terrible Gods and in the South strange beasts emerge from beneath the concrete walkways. This is a London of dream and nightmare, shadows and fog. Some of your tour guides have soundtracked the city before; some of them are new voices. All of them are fuelled by the forces of the metropolis, guided by the voices of police and thieves, conmen and pornographers, witchdoctors and clergymen, the great and good and the down and dirty.

Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Product description

Review

sophisticated British crime

Image Magazine 'A-Z of everything that's evil but inescapably seductive about the city. Just don't go south after midnight. (Dazed & Confused)

About the Author

Cathi Unsworth began her journalistic career at 19 while still studying at the London College of Fashion. Headhunted by Melody Maker, she worked there as a freelance feature writer/reviewer for several years before joining Bizarre magazine. Her own writing is inspired by the late Derek Raymond, whom she met when she interviewed him for Melody Maker and who encouraged her to follow the crime-writing path. She is the editor of London Noir, a collection of London crime stories published by Serpent's Tail. Her debut novel, The Not Knowing, was published by Serpent's Tail in 2005 and her second novel, The Singer, will be published in 2007. She lives in London.

This is the second book I have read in this series, and while I like the books, they get a bit over bearing after a while. "London Noir" paints a consistently bleak and desperate picture of one of my favorite cities, and there is simply no let up in the constant parade of hopeless characters. I found that the stories - for this is a collection of short stories, each anchored in a specific geographic location around London - to get increasingly less well written, definitely less interesting, and even a bit more bizarre, as the book went on.

There are some well known authors, such as Ken Bruen, but many are first time writers, or at least new to the genre. Like Cinema Noire, the stores all have a dark, crime ridden atmosphere, populated by characters on the periphery of society. Many are interesting, but because they are short stories, you really make no connections with any character. There is no single character that runs through the stories to give any sense of continuity (they are all written by different authors), and I think that also hurts the collection. While I recommend the book, maybe just because I'll read almost anything about London, come with the proper expectations. I'll keep reading through the series (I think there are 16 or 17 books now) as time and interest permits

Like dirt on the streets of London, these dirty characters are afixed to a dirty world. Pushers and addicts, crooked cops, the homeless and ,of course, punk rockers star in these short stories.

The lives portrayed touch the reality that is quite often glossed over and glamourized by artists who tend to elevate these dark ends of London in their works. One would rather read this book than live it out.

The scenes are bleak but eye opening as they teach about their dark and hopeless world. These stories illuminate the often attractive London , especially during punk's early days.

So if you survived those heady times you can have fun, reminisce and read these tales and be glad you survived!

My first introduction to this series was "Twin Cities Noir" a well-written,and at times funny collection of short stories. My next selection was "Manhattan Noir" which also offers up sad, frightening and fascinatingtales. My third choice was "London Noir" as I recently visited the cityand was eagar to learn more about it's neighborhoods. In all honesty, I couldn't finish the book. After five stores, at least one which borders on the pornographic, I had my fill of dark, depressing characters and prose so poorly written I was ready to throw the book in the garbage. What kind of editor would publish this kind of trash? It was so disappointing I know it will be a long time before I pick up anotherbook in this series.